Exploring the issue comparatively and in New Zealand

Gender equality in political power in industrialized democracies has grown tremendously in the past fifty years. More women are running for and being elected to national parliaments than ever before, and a record number of women hold executive positions within their nations’ government, with a number of important consequences for political outcomes and priorities.

Despite this success in women’s influence and representation, women are, however, still underrepresented in most parliaments.

In the talk, Hilde Coffé will discuss gender differences in political representation in New Zealand over time and compare the New Zealand case with other democracies. Attention will also be paid to the MMP electoral system and its mechanism of list and electorate MPs, and to the intersectionality of gender with ethnic background.

About the speaker

Hilde Coffé is Associate Professor in Comparative Politics at Victoria University of Wellington. Her research interests focus on public opinion, political behaviour, political representation and comparative research. She is chair of the International Committee of the American Political Science Association (APSA) and co-investigator of the 2014 New Zealand Election Survey.